Comment from Laura Fleischer

Dear FSIS Officials: I am writing in regard to the recent Draft Guidance for Use of Video or Other Electronic Monitoring or Recording Equipment in Federally Inspected Slaughter Establishments, Docket No. FSIS-2010-0016, dated October 15, 2010. I am pleased that FSIS recommends the use of video monitoring at U.S. slaughterhouses in an effort to reduce humane animal handling violations, but I hope that you will go one step further by making video surveillance mandatory. Research and other investigations demonstrate that animal handling violations are rarely reported or properly addressed, yet the proposed guidance only suggests that slaughterhouses use video technology to improve handling and conditions. With billions of farm animals forced through production lines in the U.S. each year, and a small number of inspectors actually present at each facility, it’s nearly impossible to ensure that each individual animal is safe from the most egregious abuses. Please don’t let farm animal mistreatment at slaughterhouses go unseen. I hope you will use your leadership and take a firmer stance on handling abuse by requiring video surveillance at slaughterhouses as part of an overall, systematic approach to reducing worker-inflicted cruelty and other abuses. Thank you for your time and consideration.